A woman is facing the death penalty after being found guilty of killing a 21-year-old and cutting her unborn baby from her womb.
Taylor Rene Parker was convicted of the October 2020 murder of Reagan Michelle Simmons-Hancock in Texas and the abduction of her daughter, who later died.
The 29-year-old was found to have punched the young pregnant woman in the head at least five times, before “cutting her abdomen, hip to hip” to remove her baby.
The guilty verdict came after three weeks of testimony in Bowie County, northeast Texas, where Parker’s attorneys decided to dismiss the kidnapping charge in an effort to have the charge reduced. murder qualified as murder.
They argued the baby was never alive and therefore could not be removed, but prosecutors said multiple medical professionals said she had a heartbeat when she was born.
“We methodically laid out what she (Parker) did, why she did it, all the moving parts and all the collateral damage,” prosecutor Kelley Crisp said.
The court heard how Parker had faked being pregnant before the murder, with Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards describing her as a “liar” and a “manipulator”.
“It was not a quick death”
In gruesome detail, Ms Richards recounted Parker’s attack on Ms Simmons-Hancock, claiming the young woman was still alive after cutting her baby from her womb.
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“She can’t leave her alive. It wasn’t a quick death. She just kept cutting her. I guess Reagan wouldn’t die fast enough for Taylor to get out of there and continue with his plans,” a- she declared.
Parker’s sentencing, known in the United States as the punishment phase, is scheduled to begin on October 12.
Prosecutors are asking for the death penalty, but jurors can opt for life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
